


Garden of Imperfection

by goddesstier, jnnxsu



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Dystopia, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-29
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2017-11-27 12:27:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/661998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddesstier/pseuds/goddesstier, https://archiveofourown.org/users/jnnxsu/pseuds/jnnxsu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an AU, conceived in the minds of 4 high-schoolers, (then middle-schoolers). It tells the tale of a sort of dystopia, a distant planet on which the characters of the webcomic we all know and love, Homestuck, live.</p><p>These chapters are posted in the order of writing, and, with the exception of the first two chapters, are not meant to be read in any specific order.</p><p>There are many experimental writing styles here, so you, as the reader, will find chapters written in first, second, or third person; in past or present tense.</p><p>We hope you enjoy this read.</p><p>This work is INCOMPLETE and will most likely stay that way, though I anticipate we will add a chapter here and there at some point.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 一

**Author's Note:**

> There are 4 of us. Only 2 authors are marked because only 2 of us have AO3 accounts.  
> If you have questions of any sort, allow me to direct you to our tumblr: http://www.imperfectgarden.tumblr.com .  
> We will be glad to answer any questions we get.  
> This tumblr was originally created to host the story of the Garden of Imperfection, but we decided AO3 would make a better medium for the story.

The Librarians found the planet in a search for happiness. They named it Eden, after the perfect garden of biblical times.They found their own happiness, certainly, but the same could not be said of those who came after them.

  
First were the Librarians, their true blood colors shrouded in mystery.

  
Then was the Queen, with a beautiful imperial purple blush on her cheeks.

  
Below her, the noble class, of shades of violet and blue.

  
The middle class; the craftsmen and skilled workers—shades of green.

  
And the lowest class, the poorest of them all, yellow, brown and red.

  
Eden was beautiful. When the Librarians first arrived there, they set aside areas of land for use as cities, leaving the rest of the planet to be a vast nature reservoir. They imposed but a few simple restrictions on the people who came after them: stay inside the boundaries and live within the system.

The system was an intricate establishment set into place by the Librarians in an effort to keep Eden as perfect as its people could keep it. The system became the Librarians' namesake, for it was a kind of a library, in essence: a system in which everything one had, except for oneself, was owned by the government. Everything that could be needed to live one's life was borrowed from the government, but to be able to borrow, the borrower must also contribute to the system. To contribute to the system, one had to borrow the materials from the system in order to create, and whatever was created was returned to the system, to be borrowed yet again by another. It was a cycle, one that was fiercely prejudiced in the favor of the higher classes.

  
Despite its flaws, the cycle still continues on.

  
But a new threat arises from the lowbloods, a threat largely disregarded by the Librarians.

  
They call themselves the Underworld.


	2. 二

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More exposition!

The Underworld began as a nonviolent revolt against the highbloods and the Librarians. It was not operated in secret--everyone knew about it. The Librarians saw no threat of any kind in the Underworld, nor did they believe the lowbloods could do anything to undermine the system, other than plunder goods in an effort to own something. They did not object to this, because they knew that, in the end, all that was taken would eventually make its way back to the system in some way or another.

The majority of the Underworld was comprised of the yellow, brown, and red bloods, and because of this, its leadership was not by those who were high in blood rank, but by those who were cunning, intelligent and manipulative, and therefore able to seize power for themselves. Among these lowbloods, there resided a small number of green bloods, but these were rare in the Underworld's ranks, since the shades of green could live comfortable lives under the system, and often did not feel a need for change in their lives. In contrast, the lower bloods were treated as servants to the rest, at best. To the lowbloods, the lure of the Underworld lay in the fact that if they could make a name for themselves in the Underworld, they could live in luxury that they could never enjoy as a low blood under the system.

If they could stay alive.


	3. 三

_She listens to the tales of her predecessors with wide eyes, almost disbelieving the stories they speak. A kind of oral tradition, passed from the old to the young. They tell her that once upon a time, long before she was born, each and every one of them had beautiful, glowing horns in shades of red, orange, and yellow._

_"Why don’t we have horns anymore?"_

_They reply that they don’t know. The whole tale, they say, is shrouded in mystery.All they can tell her is that generations ago, the horns suddenly vanished, leaving only the pale grey skin and the blood colors, and the eyes that came with them._

_They continue on, telling her that their ancestors had quite a peculiar society. They name a few of the strange things they had for her: the mother grub, imperial drones, and something called a lusus._

_"What are those?"_

_They laugh a bit, and she notices a kind of a sad edge to their laughter. They pat her head, and tell her that they will tell her later if she reminds them to. They sigh and whisper among themselves, obviously dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. She hears snatches of their conversation, and thinks she hears them saying that being forced to take care of the baby grubs themselves wasn’t what they wanted to do all the time, even if this child was the sweetest thing they had ever seen._

_She doesn’t quite understand, but accepts that she will when she grows older. Her elders have never lied to her before._

 

Rose closed the old tome in her lap and chuckled a bit to herself. “So, Dave, our subjects once had horns, and the original Librarians took them out of their genes using magic so that they could fit in better. So kind of them, don’t you think?”

Dave looked up from his lap, a disarray of wires and scrap metal making a mess of his legs and the seat under them. “Lovely,” he replied sarcastically, returning almost immediately to his project.


	4. 四

A lone, hunched figure sat on a hill, protecting itself as much as it could from the elements. A quick glimpse of its face showed a young man with short black hair, an angry expression, and glowing yellow eyes where a human’s whites would be.

And his iris-- a bright, blood red.

He had been exiled because he was different. Exiled by the blood castes, exiled by the Underworld, exiled by even his own self. The only one who could love him-- who had ever loved him-- was his jade-blooded guardian, and she had long since been taken from him.

Now he was alone, waiting to die. There wasn’t quite anything else he _could_ do.

A small, female figure began to climb up the hill towards him. He didn’t notice her. She stopped in front of him, curiously eyeing his slouched, desolate figure with her green eyes. They roamed over his body posture and ragged clothes, and stopped in surprise at the sight of a symbol branded into the side of his neck, rather than an Heirloom.

“Hello.”

He twitched a bit in surprise, and then slowly looked up, meeting her eyes. She didn’t flinch at the sight of his eyes; rather, she actually seemed to lean closer, as if fascinated with the alien hue. "What do you want?” he replied defensively, leaning backwards, a wary, questioning tone to his dark, gravelly voice.

“I’m Nepeta,” she purred, a catlike lilt to her voice.

"...Karkat,” he grumbled, annoyed.

Nepeta giggled at his sullenness. “What are you doing here?”

“You haven't answered my question.”

"Which one?"

"What do you want from me?"

"I would be lion if I said I didn't need anything. So I'll just say that I'd like some furiendship. It's kinda lonely where I am. So, Karkitty, what are you doing here?"

"Don't call me Karkitty."

"Fine, Karkat. What are you doing here?"

He paused for a moment, looking away. "Hating myself."

“That’s...” Nepeta trailed off and frowned, tilting her head. “That's not quite right.” Then her face brightened. “Well, do you want to come and live with me? My best friend Equius… well, he’s really caught up in all the higher blood stuff…” For a moment, she looked as if she was about to leave, as if in search of the friend that had left her. Karkat hesitantly stretched out his hand in unseen comfort, unsure of the gesture.

Nepeta sighed, startling Karkat’s arm back into the cloak. “Well?” she asked, looking at Karkat with an amazingly bright smile. He was a little surprised to see how cheerful she seemed to be, while his own life was in such despair.

“…sure,” he muttered, standing, revealing hismself as quite average sized but gangly. Nepeta patted his shoulder, ignoring it when he flinched from the physical contact.

Together, they began walking towards the future of Eden.


	5. 五

“You’re but a figurehead, Feferi,” whispers a mysterious lavender-robed woman into your ear.

“I know,” you reply impassively. “You don’t have to tell me that.”

“Then that’s perfect,” she replies. You think that there might be a hint of a smirk behind her words, but of course, you wouldn’t know.

Her mask conceals everything.

“Who _are_ you?” you ask, knowing that she won't tell you the truth.

“A ghost,” she replies. “An entity. A deity. A god. Your god. Take your pick.”

“Why must I be queen?” you ask, a little sadly.

“Because we need you to be,” she whispers, raising yet another myriad of questions with her answer.

She disappears into the shadows of your chamber.

You resign yourself to your fate. You can't see any alternative to it, really.

Sadly, you rise from the throne you did not want and enter the sunlight to greet the people who are not yours.


	6. 六

A blue-robed figure fluttered through the hallways of the castle, slipping in and out of shadows and sunlight. It finally passed through a door, leading to one of many private chambers of the Librarians. Inside, bookshelves lined the surprisingly spacious room from wall to wall. Elegantly patterned carpeting covered the floor, which was littered with sofas, chairs, desks, and lamps.

Once inside the chamber, the figure's hood slipped off and his mask was removed, revealing a young man with deep blue eyes and dark, messy hair.

“Does anyone know where my glasses are?” he mumbled into the blurriness of the room. “I don’t want to have to put my mask back on in order to find them…”

A young lady with white-blonde hair and lavender robes looked up from the large book on her lap.

“Hello, John,” she said wryly. “Your glasses are to your left, on that table.” She watched, slightly amused, as his hand skittered across the surface of the desk, finally locating his rectangular glasses (but not before almost knocking them off the table), and placed them on the bridge of his nose.

“Thanks, Rose,” he said, smiling at the girl, revealing two unusually large front teeth. He plopped himself down on one of the many couches, then, looking around, asked, “Where'd all the others go?”

Rose smiled mildly at John in return, replying, “Dirk and Dave are sparring out in the Courtyard. Jake left this room to join them a few minutes before you arrived, I think. Jade is gardening, and Jane is assisting her. I assume Roxy is most likely looking to satiate her alcohol addiction.”

John thought a bit, and then shrugged. “I guess I’ll just stay here, then.” He pulled a book from one of many shelves and thumbed it open, a relaxed smile making its way onto his face and settling itself there.

 

Elsewhere in the Librarians' castle, a figure cloaked in dark green slipped through a door, making the sound of clanging metal heard for a short moment. Once inside, his mask slipped off into his hands, a pair of glasses appearing from somewhere in his robe and smoothly positioned onto his face.

The two figures already inside the room, dressed in red and orange-brown, paused to greet the newcomer. “Hey, Jake,” they said in unison. Jake grinned brightly up at them and responded cheerily, “Hey there, Strider brothers! That looked like quite the fight! Do proceed, won't you?”

The two grinned at each other in an eerily similar way, and then continued their sparring. Jake made his way to a bench that had been pushed to the side of the wall and sat down to enjoy the show.

 

Two hooded and masked figures, one in light blue and one in light green, looked over plants in a gloriously large greenhouse, murmuring quietly with each other. Around them, haphazardly arranged flora grew everywhere: out of pots, cracks in the floor, basins, and generally anywhere else a plant could grow. Sunlight streamed through the ceiling and walls, lighting the pair in a beautiful afternoon glow.

“Jane,” whispered the figure in green.

“Is there something wrong, Jade?” the blue robed figure whispered in reply.

“Absolutely not!"

"Then what do you need?"

"Gardening is fun!”

“Yes, it is,” Jane replied with a chuckle.

The two girls worked peacefully side by side.

 

A figure dressed in a greyish shade of pink lounged on the steps of the cellar, holding a dark glass filled halfway with warm, dark red wine. Her mask was only partly lifted, revealing dark lips that sipped at her drink.

 

The castle, for a short time, was peaceful.


	7. 七

After what seemed like hours of pointless discussion, you decide to depart inconspicuously from the other Librarians’ conversation; trudging farther down the hallway towards your private chambers as their conversation slowly fades from your ears. You stare out at what seems like the whole world, pondering things you honestly don’t give any regard to. A delicate breeze slowly blows in from your open window, caressing your face as you exhale. _I wonder what it’s like out there in the open; with nothing to stop me,_ you wonder; as an idea suddenly comes to mind.

Quickly, you flash-step to the old cloaks you keep in the corner of your room, searching through them until you finally find what looks like a lengthy, tattered charcoal cloak. You pat it swiftly and see dust fall to the floor, before throwing it on and pulling the hood excessively over your head to hide your face. _Just a precaution...,_ you think, as you secure shades onto your face and pull a pair of gloves over your hands.

In seconds, you’re already outside, roaming about alone, for the first time in ages.

The night air is cool, aromaless. The breeze is picking up yet again, and you can’t help but let a smirk play on your lips as you waltz through the silent city, your tattered cloak fluttering quietly around you. For a brief second you wonder if you’re causing terror in hearts of some people, being as strange and ominous as you are; but you abandon that thought as you wander further and further.

 

You can't help but think that you’ve never felt this free.


	8. 八

She walks purposefully back to the castle, thoughts coursing through her frenzied mind like wildfire. How could she have let that happen again--after what had happened last time, so long ago? Hadn't she gained control over her powers in the years since?

Fuming at herself, she arrives at her destination. She looks around to make sure she hasn't been followed. Right now, she wants no person's company-- not even another Librarian's. She steps quietly into the book room, the door locking behind her with a soft click. As she makes her way through the slightly cluttered room, she lets her mask fall to the ground and pulls off her hood, shaking out her long black hair, messy from being tucked into her hood for so long. She doesn't bother to extract her round glasses from her pocket. She collapses into a soft armchair, her mind no calmer than it had been before. She settles herself into the chair and continues to contemplate the events of the hour before. She reprimands herself mentally. She _must_ be more careful. She beats herself up inside, because she cannot shake off the sense of deja vu; memories of the first incident, the one much more tragic than today's, flood over her.

_Years ago, quite a distance from the Librarians' castle, a small girl with long, dark hair and bright green eyes sat on the dirt floor or a crudely built hut. The walls of the hut seemed to be molded of a thick, dried mud. The roof was old and worn. Patches of sunlight shone in through the holes in the ceiling. There were no windows. The child did not find this odd. After all, she had been raised in a castle with close to no windows. However, the little girl was agitated for another reason. She did not understand why her grandfather had brought her to that shabby place. She longed for toys to play with and her friends to share them with. Her grandfather stood in the corner of the hut, messing around with something unknown that she didn't quite care about._

_Armed with curiosity and pent-up energy, she began to walk about and explore the tiny space of the one-roomed hut. A few minutes into her exploration, the youngster was covered in dirt and had not discovered a single thing. Her patience running low, she was about to give up on finding anything of interest. Then, at that moment, she spied a hint of green among all the dull brown. Her curiosity and sense of adventure renewed, the child headed toward the mysterious green thing. It turned out to be a sprout. Unsatisfied with the nature of her discovery, the small girl prodded the sprout with her finger, hoping that something interesting would happen. Nothing did. She poked it again, and this time she willed_ something _to happen, for by that point, she thought she would surely die of boredom. And the second time, something did happen. A bright green glow appeared at her fingertips. The girl was pleased. She watched in awe as the strange green light spread from her fingertips onto the tiny sprout-- and the sprout began to grow taller. The girl giggled in delight. She had finally found something of interest. Her first discovery fueled her curiosity and her confidence, so she began to look around hopefully for more things to satiate her growing thirst for adventure. She didn't find anything. Slightly disappointed, she turned back back to the sprout-- only, by that point, it was no longer a sprout. What had been a tiny sprout, no more than an inch tall just moments before was now enormous-- a huge climbing vine, diameter larger than the young girl's head and covered all over in menacing-looking thorns. Each thorn was large as a cat_ _and as lethal-looking as a its sharpened claws. Whatever joy that was left on the girl's face disappeared, and was replaced by wide, terror-filled eyes and a gaping mouth. Her green eyes displayed the same mysterious green light as her hands and the still-growing vine. The girl watched in a mixture of shock, awe, and dismay as the deadly vine continued to grow at an alarming rate. Unable to control her newfound power, she watched helplessly as the vine snaked its way across the dirty room, to where her beloved grandfather stood. He became aware of the lethal plant behind him at the very last moment. He did not even have time to scream before the vine, which was now growing uncontrollably fast, wrapped itself around him. She just barely heard the whispers from her grandfather before he was engulfed by the vine: "My granddaughter, please live for a long time..."_

_The girl was terrified by this point, yet she was also paralyzed and unable to tear her eyes from the terrible scene. She was horrified by what she had done, and began to cry. Her sobs went unheard for hours, for the hut to which her grandfather had taken her was in a remote, secluded region of Eden. Hours later, (it seems like years to the girl) her cries were finally heard by the baby princess of Eden. The princess was a few years younger than the young Librarian-to-be. She wore a pretty dress, adorned with ruffles, frills, and lace. On top of her dark, curly hair, there rested a beautiful golden circlet. Her eyes were a brilliant violet color, and her lips and her chubby baby cheeks were flushed with fuchsia._

_On that particular day, the princess had grown tired of her constant pampering at the palace, and so she had escaped the palace in search of some sort of adventure. It was not long before the young princess had become lost in the unfamiliar land-- the land she was destined to rule. Wandering through the vast lands of Eden, she heard the other girl's cries from afar. The princess's curiosity and compassion compelled her to follow the sound to the source. She arrived at the desolate hut to find the girl's sobbing had not become any less, though she had been crying for hours. The princess was deeply saddened by the sight. Not caring what happened to her lacy, custom-tailored dress, (which was already rather beat up from the long venture from the palace) the princess approached the crying girl. The girl choked her sobs away for a moment, tears still streaming down her face, and looked at the new girl._

_For the princess, it was her first encounter with anyone who was not an adult, and she regarded the other girl with interest. Her skin was a beautiful earthy tone,_ _contrasting with the princess's own desaturated grey. And oh, the eyes! A pale white where would be yellow, tinged with hints of red. The princess was confused for a moment, attempting to connect red eyes with the beautiful green pupils; trying to figure out which was the girl's blood color, but tossed it away and accepted that they were different. Looking for the reason why the girl was crying, the princess looked around the hut. She wondered why there was an enormous thorny vine growing all over one side of the hut. At first, she could not think why the girl would be sad. Nothing seemed to really be amiss. Upon a closer look, however, the princess noticed a reddish color amidst the green vines. Remembering that the girl's blood appeared to be red, she wondered if that was the girl's guardian, and if that was the reason for the girl's tears. The princess looked back at the girl, who was no longer crying, but looking at the princess with a kind of sad curiosity. The princess pointed a chubby finger at the mass of green and blood-red, an unspoken question within the gesture. the girl took one look in the direction the princess was pointing, and promptly burst into tears again. The princess was aghast. She hadn't meant to cause any distress. The young princess, feeling very sympathetic and wanting to correct her mistake, put her arm around the other girl and tried to comfort her. The girl did not try and shake her off. On the contrary, she seemed to welcome the gesture of friendship._

_The two children sat on the dirt floor together, defying Eden's entire social order, and soon the girl's sobs abated._

Her memories leave off here. The rest of the story she only knows as she was told by others in the years following.

 _Some time later, the Librarians of the time began to worry. The girl and her grandfather should have been back already. Two of the Librarians were sent out to find them: one cloaked in pale blue and the other in a reddish-orange._ _Soon, the mysterious pair arrived at the shabby hut to find that the Librarian child and the young princess had fallen asleep together on the dirt floor, and were slumbering peacefully. The figure in blue smiled sadly at the sight, her heart warmed. The one in orange was unamused. The girl's grandfather was nowhere to be found. The Librarians, noticing the strange growth of thorns, began to clear it away carefully. Upon their discovery of the grandfather's bloody body, an unspoken, unspeakable sadness fell between the two. They knew, however, that they had to clear the scene, before a lowblood arrived and unraveled the Librarians' deepest secret._

_A short time later, the Librarians had meticulously restored the hut to its original, desolate state. There were no traces anywhere of red blood or the thorny vine. The only difference in the hut was the absence of the little sprout. The Librarians returned the young princess to the palace, and took the little girl with them, back to the Librarians' castle. From that point on, the two girls took different paths._

_The girl who was destined to become a Librarian never forget her encounter with the princess. It took her a few years to realize the full potential of the power she had and to learn to control it. Her entire life, even as she grew up and became a Librarian, she watched over the princess from afar, never forgetting that one kindness that she had once given._

_The girl who was destined to "rule" Eden, on the other hand, could never fully recall the the memory. She retained only a strange recollection of a deep sadness and a strange girl, eventually discarding it as a strange dream._

The blend of memories and stories of her past running through her mind only makes the green-robed Librarian feel worse about her lack of self-control. She remembers realizing how dangerous her powers could be, and all the time and effort she put in, trying to make sure that she would never again hurt anyone with her powers. She remembers thinking about her grandfather continuously through all that training and her determination that no one else would share his fate. She'd taken up gardening as a way to exercise her ability to be around various flora without her powers manifesting, and on the most part, she'd kept control. She hadn't lost control a single time-- until today. She curses herself. It was lucky, she thinks, that no one had been hurt this time around, but it had been a near miss. She tells herself over and over that she cannot let herself lose control again.


	9. 九

The rain fell mildly, forming tiny puddles in the gravel as the pitter-patter of the drops rang in the cold air. Raindrops splashed as they made contact with the ground, leaving muddy marks on whatever drew too close to the collision.

A lone figure in rags trembled under the shadows of a dismal alley; damp, curly hair clinging to her shivering figure. She tried to let slumber overtake her as the rain and mud battered her, but to no avail.

_Splash._

The figure sat up with a snap, and glanced around for the source of the noise as the sound of footsteps draws closer. She spotted a rapidly approaching figure made its way in her direction until-

_Thud._

Wincing, the girl slowly opened her eyes to see the hooded figure, who had fallen in front of her. She crawled over to it and delicately holds out her hand to the stranger, trying to help it stand up.

“Are you alright?” she asked, as the figure managed to stand precariously.

“A-ah, thank you for helping me up!” the figure said, as the hood fell from its face. The figure was a pretty girl with dark, curly hair--and her eyes! Such a beautiful violet color! A gasp escaped from the face of the girl in rags as she realized who the person she had just helped was, and her hands slowly went up to her mouth before she quickly fell into a kneeling position.

“I’m terribly sorry for speaking to you without permission, your Highness,” the girl bowed, without making eye contact. The Queen stood there, looking down at the girl before gently kneeling down and placing her hands on the girl’s arm to assist her in standing up.

“Aw, you don't have to bow! And call me Feferi, please. I really don’t do well with formality," she said sweetly. "And honestly, it's completely alright. After all, what's wrong with offering assistance to someone?” she added. Feferi smiled warmly, before asking rather curiously, “Do you mind telling me your name?”

Scuffling up, the lowblooded girl slowly looks at the Queen, before answering meekly with a single word, “Aradia.” Feferi’s face lit up. She seemed very joyful at meeting a new person. She immediately launched into conversation, and the two seemed to not notice the rain as they chatted the night away.

While speaking to the Queen, Aradia noticed a few things about her. One that stood out most to her was that Feferi was a very lonely person. Despite being the Queen of all Eden, and the power to get anything at her smallest whim, Feferi did not consider anyone to be her friend. All the workers at her palace were so respectful of her, and held her in too much honor to have an honest, friendly conversation with her.

Near the end of the pair's long conversation, Feferi asked, a little hesitantly, "A-Aradia?"

"Yes, your highne-- erm, Feferi?” Aradia corrected herself quickly.

"Would you like to come and live at the palace? You could be my personal maid. Please, Aradia, I would really love to have you there with me! Please?” the Queen asked, holding the lowblood’s hands, her eyes gleaming with hope.

Seeing the desperation hidden in the Queen's face and knowing her loneliness, Aradia slowly nodded in agreement. With a laugh of joy, the Queen took her new maid by the hand and ran off happily to the palace.

 

And that was the end of one beginning.


	10. 十

A quiet knock on the door is heard across the lengthy carpet that runs up to the Queen’s throne.

“Ah, that must be Equius!” the Queen exclaims, sitting up abruptly in her throne. “Do get the door please, Aradia. Thank you!”

You half-bow to the Queen, whom you have been serving for quite a while now, even though you know she dislikes formalities from you. (Or from anyone else, for that matter.) You’re still quite confused about why she wanted you to be her personal maid, as there were many of other people in Eden that could serve her, not to mention that they were all higher blooded than you, the lowest of the low.

Slowly, you walk towards the enormous double-doors while replying, “Yes, your highness-- I mean, Feferi.” You always forget that she hates being addressed like royalty. Drawing one of the doors back, you step aside and bow to the newcomer, who you assume is a high blood. Looking up, you see the visitor— Equius, was it?—looking back at you through his cracked, dark, rectangular glasses. Quickly, he looks away and coughs into his fist, before directing his attention to the Queen and walking towards her.

“I have finished the machinery you have requested, Queen Feferi,” he pronounces clearly, not kneeling to her (though he looks as if he is trying hard not to), because you assume the Queen has told him not to in the past. While she has told you on countless occasions to just simply call her “Feferi”, and not be formal with her, you must admit you are a bit stubborn in that you always feel that you should still do so.

You close the door and make your way back to the Queen’s side, paying no attention the conversation they are having as you stand there silently. Random phrases do reach your ears though, but you pay no attention, as they don't concern you.

"....speed of projects....assistance...." As you hear those drifting words, you immediately perk up and start listening. You know your dear friend Sollux has been searching for a better job, in order to be closer to your position. Listening intently, the words you have been hoping for reach your ears: "...it would be nice to have a skilled assistant for the technical parts of my projects...." Beaming internally, you think to yourself that this is a great opportunity, and it just can’t get any better! Sollux is amazing with technical things! After a bit of quick thinking, you decide to play it safe and not speak out until the end of the conversation. Waiting patiently, the Queen and Equius finally finish the conversation.

“Ah, I do wonder how you do get around this palace with such ease, Queen Feferi,” Equius sighs, "I am still not accommodated to the routes and passages, would the maid girl mind leading me out?” This strikes you as very strange. From your knowledge, Equius had been making rounds to the palace quite a lot even before you arrived here.

Obviously, this doesn’t strike the Queen as strange at all, and you brush it off as she blubbers, “Oh dear, well, I’m sure Aradia wouldn’t mind leading you out; would you please?” She directs the last part at you, looking at you with hopeful eyes.

“Of course, your hi-- Feferi,” you say, secretly a little glad, even though the situation still troubles (not to mention confuses) you a bit, “Please follow me, sir.” You walk past the highblood and hold the door open for him, before making your way to the exit of the castle. You hear the high blood cough, and you turn around to make sure he’s okay, because you know there would be trouble if he wasn’t.

“Just call me Equius,” he mumbles, avoiding eye contact from you. You look at him curiously, and nod carefully.

“If you wish, though you should know that I must respect formalities due to my rank, Sir Equius,” you say, picking your words carefully and keeping your face expressionless, as you always do in the castle. He nods in return, and you continue on your way until you see the exit. The other walks past you, but you notice that you have forgotten to ask him about Sollux.

Luckily, he turns around for some reason that is not understandable, and you mentally slap yourself as you blurt out, “Sir-- erm, Equius," you say, fighting the feeling that you don't have the right to address him by rank, "I couldn’t help but overhear that you needed an assistant, and well, I have a close friend who is incredibly talented with technical issues like the ones you named. Although...he is a lowblood, like i am, although he is still higher in blood than me, so I hope you won’t mind that, and that you’ll give him a chance, please.” You realize that you rushed your words, speaking your request quite a bit faster than you had planned to, in your nervousness. You look him in the eye, eyebrows knit together, and he just stares back at you with what seems like a disbelieving expression.

Just as you think he’s about to walk off (the offer was a little silly, you think in hindsight), he stops and says hesitantly, "Sure, I'll let him on as my assistant for a little bit. Just a trial period. There isn't really too much harm in that..." He trails off. While you are overflowing with happiness inside, you resolve to hide that joy and thank him politely.

"Oh, E-Equius," you say, once again tripping over his name, "that's wonderful! I'll bring my friend to your workshop (you make a mental note to ask someone how to get there) in two day’s time." Once again, he nods (rather awkwardly), and you make your way back to the Feferi's throne room as the high blood leaves.


	11. 十一

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An old chapter, written when this fic was still active, but never published.

The queen's maid sits along in a meadow. Though colorful flowers and soft green grass surround her, she is not enjoying nor appreciating the natural beauty around her, for her mood is not a joyful one. The setting sun casts an orange glow over the maid. She is beautiful; her eyes are a soft, dark red, and her long, dark hair falls to just above her waist. Her tall, elegant figure is clothed in a simple dress, much nicer than would be expected of those of her low social stature. Around her neck, she wears a faded bronze ♈ on a worn bronze chain.  
But today, her beautiful eyes are tear-filled, and her dark hair is disheveled. She sits with her head buried in her arms, quietly sobbing.

♈~♊~♈~♊~♈~♊~♈

The mechanic's assistant wanders through a meadow. Though the scene is tranquil, his spirits are less than calm, for his mood is not a peaceful one. The setting sun casts an orange glow over the lowly assistant. He is not extraordinary in looks; his eyes are a dull yellow color, but at the same time, they seem to have a phosphorescent glow. His hair is short, dark, and almost always messy. His lanky frame is clothed very simply, reflecting his low class. He wears a pair of unusually colored glasses: one lens blue, the other red. The frames are made of bronze and a ♊ is painted on the right side in a dirty yellow.  
But today, his glowing eyes are searching, and his dark hair is even more ungroomed than usual. Hearing the sound of the maid's crying, he makes his way through the meadow to where she sits--where she always goes when she is upset.

♈~♊~♈~♊~♈~♊~♈

He is her best friend and one of her only friends, the only one who can understand her, for he shares her lowblooded class and knows her pain.  
He taps her gently on the shoulder, then shies back quickly, in case she lashes out at him. She doesn't. instead. she lifts her weeping head, trying to blink away her tears.  
Her eyes are puffy and red from crying, and yet even though her face is swollen, there is still a kind of sad beauty in her face.  
She looks up into the eyes of the assistant-- those glowing eyes, so plain and yet so enigmatic--and she speaks for the first time in hours.  
"S-sollux...:  
It is not a questions. Sollux knows that. She is inviting him to speak.  
"Aradia..."  
He says her name cautiously, not wishing to upset her further.  
"What happened this time?"  
There is a faint hint of a list in his voice.  
The maid pushes back her tears and says, her voice cracking, "I-it was the h-highbloods." She stops to wipe away her tears, then continues on, bitterly, "Always the highbloods. Why can't they just leave me alone? I'm not doing them any harm, am i? What do they hate me so? Is it the color of my blood? That one little part of me that I have no control over? In fact, why does the whole system hate me? I'm the lowest of the low, just because my blood is red. And because the first Librarians decided my kind was the lowest , the system hates me and so does everyone else!"  
Her voice breaks and she stops to choke back sobs. The yellow-blood sits down beside her, uncertain of whether he should do anything more to ameliorate her pain. He settles for tentatively putting an arm around her shoulder. She does not cringe from the gesture, but contrarily warms up to it and welcomes it. She finally works up the strength to keep talking.  
"Sometimes, I wish I'd never met the Queen on that dark, rainy night. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Feferi. I love working for her. She's absolutely wonderful and I really couldn't wish for a better job. And yet, even though I used to be homeless and cold and had to resort to the most desperate measures to survive, at least I'd never met a highblood, never been insulted and teased and all that..."  
By this point, she can't take it anymore. She breaks down into uncontrollable tears again. She sobs and sobs, and Sollux puts his arms around her. For a long while, Aradia cries into her best friend's shoulder, occasionally choking out incoherent strings of syllables-- syllables trying to be words but which have not quite gotten there yet...

♈~♊~♈~♊~♈~♊~♈

Gradually, she manages to stop her tears, and for hours the two sit in the meadow. All is silent except for the soft rustling of the occasional breeze. They relax, and for the first time, they are able to truly enjoy the scenery.  
Soon, it is sunrise. Sollux walks the queen's maid back to the palace, reassuring her all the way that she can be strong and not let herself be hurt. When they part, they exchange wordless goodbyes, and he thinks he sees a smile-- a sad one, a little forced, but a smile nonetheless-- on her face.


End file.
